


Wednesday Morning, Three AM

by celli



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Chromatic Character, Established Relationship, Future Fic, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-25
Updated: 2008-11-25
Packaged: 2017-10-15 23:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/166215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celli/pseuds/celli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's hard to be four. (Still not the woke up married fic!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wednesday Morning, Three AM

**Author's Note:**

> Celli will go to any lengths necessary to avoid writing what she's supposed to be writing. Exhibit A.

It was the singing that woke Cook up: Archie's voice, low and quiet, singing a hymn. He rolled over in bed and listened to it with a sleepy smile, until he heard the crying barely audible beneath it.

"Uh-oh," he said. He untangled his pajama pants from the covers, pulled them on, and padded out of the bedroom.

Archie's voice got incrementally louder as Cook crossed the hall and stuck his head in the doorway. He was sitting on the racecar-shaped bed in the corner of the room, cradling a little boy against his chest and shoulder. He trailed off when he saw Cook.

"Sorry," he said, hushed. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"Archie," Cook said warningly. Archie shrugged.

Cook crossed to the bed and sat down. "Hey, AJ," he said. "Your legs hurting you again?"

AJ burst into fresh wails and turned around long enough to throw himself at Cook.

Cook winced. "Now _I'm_ sorry?"

Archie laughed and leaned forward to ruffle AJ's hair. "He just wants to make sure we know it hurts."

"Message received." Cook shifted so he could rub AJ's tiny legs; Archie was patting his back and humming the song he'd been singing before. Finally, AJ went from sobbing to large, shaky breaths against Cook's wet shoulder.

"That's it, buddy," Cook said, kissing AJ on the temple. "It's hard to be four, isn't it?"

AJ nodded without lifting his head up. Cook tried not to laugh.

"Growing pains hurt," Archie said, still in that hushed don't-startle-the-animals tone he used whenever AJ got upset. "I used to get them at his age."

Cook looked over AJ.

"Yes, I grew." Archie rolled his eyes.

"Just checking."

AJ fell asleep between one sad breath and the next, one hand clinging to Cook's neck and the other tucked under him at a funny angle. But every time Cook tried to shift him, he'd whimper and burrow further in.

"This is what I needed," Cook told him gently. "A flashback to you, ages six to eighteen months."

"Aren't you recording tomorrow?" Archie asked.

"Yes," Cook said, trying not to whine it. "But you're singing tomorrow night."

"Like I can't do that in my sleep."

"Tell me about it," Cook said, and Archie poked him in the shoulder.

"You love it."

"Move over," Cook said, ignoring Archie's grin. He twisted around slowly until he was lying flat on his back on the bed, his head on a pillow shaped like a car tire and his feet dangling a few inches off the end of the bed.

Archie curled up next to him, putting more weight on the wall than on the bed, and wrapped an arm around the two of them. AJ moved the hand not clutching at Cook until it was wrapped around Archie's sleeve.

"We can probably sneak out in a few minutes," Archie whispered.

Cook wriggled around a little--every muscle he had was going to remember this tomorrow--and peered over at Archie, who was sort of crunched up on his side. "You got someplace better to be?"

Archie very, very carefully leaned in over AJ's head to kiss Cook. "Doesn't exist."


End file.
